What Causes Leg Cramps at Night?

And it's important to make a distinction between leg cramps causes and other causes of leg pain at night.

Why?

Because there are several conditions that can cause leg pain at
night:

fibromyalgia

sciatica

arthritis

night leg cramps

varicose
veins

Use of statins for lowering cholesterol

lower extremity arterial disease
(atherosclerosis).

So what causes leg cramps at night?

The cramp, or charley horse, is due to the muscle contracting
(shortening and tightening) in a sudden and violent way. These nocturnal
leg cramps usually occur in the calf muscle. But foot and leg cramps do
happen at night also. Cramps in the thighs are less common.

One main reason for the pain is because blood flow to the muscle
is restricted. Waste products also build up within the muscle tissue.

Here are nine conditions that may cause muscles to contract

The underlying causes of leg cramps are unknown. However, here are nine possible suspects:

Dehydration. Not staying hydrated with enough water
during the day may be one of the big causes of leg cramps at night. This
is most likely due to fluid imbalances of electrolytes (mainly sodium,
potassium, calcium, and magnesium).

Overuse of the muscles, perhaps from exercising, gardening or other physical activities.

Night leg cramps during pregnancy affect about 30% of
women. In the next article, I have a big caution regarding relief for
leg muscle cramps in pregnancy.
(You can see a link to that article at the bottom of this page.)

Concrete. This sounds a little far fetched to me, but
I've read that standing on concrete for long periods of time can lead to
leg pain at night. When I was 17, I went to work in a steel factory. It
was tough, sweaty, physical labor. We all stood on concrete for eight
hours a day, day after day, working our tails off. I never remember any
of the men complaining about leg cramps, but then again, these guys were
tough dudes. Complaining was for cry babies.

Prolonged standing. Maybe concrete isn't the real culprit and
this is. There's a good study that was published in August 2011. It
shows that prolonged standing at work is a risk factor for both varicose
veins and nocturnal leg cramps. If you have a job that keeps you
standing, try to find time and ways to sit down when you can. Break time
may be your only opportunity.

Diabetes. Some leg cramps at night may indeed be a result of
diabetes. However, please note that just because you have occasional leg
pain at night from cramps does not mean you have diabetes.

Shoes that don't fit properly may be what causes leg cramps for some adults and children.
In fact, when it comes to what causes leg cramps in women, high heel shoes are something to consider.

Kidney dialysis can be a cause of leg cramps at night.

Medications, including diuretics for high blood pressure, oral contraceptives, and statins.

Important tip if you're taking statins for cholesterol

One of the side effects of taking statins is muscle aches in the legs. Technically, these are not leg cramps.

However, if you take statins, you should be aware that studies show
that statin use lowers levels of the nutrient Coenzyme Q10 (abbreviated as CoQ10). A study in
the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology showed that statins reduce CoQ10
levels by up to 40%!

This is very important because lower levels of CoQ10 may create pain or cramps in the leg
muscles. Like a lot of things in medicine, the studies are conflicting on this
point.

I don’t take statins. However, I occasionally like to take CoQ10
for a heart boost.

I’ve been reading about this nutrient for years. And reading
The Coenzyme Q10 Phenomenon by clinical cardiologist Stephen T. Sinatra, M.D. several
years ago really peaked my interest.

This book, although several years old, is an excellent
overview of why CoQ10 is so important for many health conditions, especially heart health.

Supplementing with a dose of 50 mg twice
daily of CoQ10 for 30 days may be beneficial to you if you are having muscle pain from
statins. Certainly something to discuss with your doctor.

Below I’ve provided a link in reference #5 you can click on
to see a good study on taking CoQ10 for muscle pain.

The point is, if you do take statins, you really need to
read up on the statin and CoQ10 connection. Going to pubmed.com can also give
you medical information on this topic.

Here’s something else to be aware of: There are a few
studies showing that 100 mg of CoQ10 taken in the evening may cause insomnia. That’s
why I always take my CoQ10 in the morning after breakfast. CoQ10 should always
be taken with meals.

Three final things to note

Night leg cramps while sleeping are when they often occur. If
you frequently have severe leg cramps, either during the day or at
night, and nothing seems to ease the leg pain, this would be something
to take up with your doctor.